Friday, January 28, 2011

LEMON & PASSIONFRUIT ENTREMET - THE DARING BAKERS

It makes me really angry to NEVER be able to finish my challenges before the deadline. I always promise myself to start early, yet I am by no means able to commit to it. So, this is the reason why I consistently embark on my baking adventure at the very last minute and put myself under a lot of stress. I've come to the conclusion that it is the way I function. Unfortunately, stress will everlastingly be a part of my personality...

The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted byAstheroshe of the blog "Accro". She chose to challenge everyone to make a "Biscuit Joconde Imprime" to wrap around an "Entremets" dessert.

This cold ornate dessert usually has many different layers of cake, mousse (Bavarian cream mousse or simple mousse) and is decorated with either jelly, whipped cream or a fruit coulis.It is one of my favorite sweet courses especially when it is of the chocolaty or fruity (lime, lemon, passionfruit, mango, raspberry, etc...) kind. I particularly like the dainty looks, elaborate details, freshness, lightness and exquisiteness of "Entremets".

At home we regularly ate those refined treats. My mother was not the type of hobby-baker who enjoyed preparing complex goods, she was more a person who liked to keep things uncomplicated. Baking like a pâtissier was never one of her aims. She didn't want to wander out of her comfort zone and wasn't as curious food-wise as me. Luckily for us my father happened to work just a few meters away from a very good "pâtisserie-boulagerie" (how convenients LOL) and came back home at least once a week (before he retired, he was one of their most faithful customers and also bought croissants on a daily basis) with luscious confections which we goobbled voraciously.

The day before his buying spree my father made sure to ask us what we wanted in order for him to place an order early the next morning. I remember that the prospect of eating Confiserie Ducret's amazing creations filled me with the highest joy. I can't recall how many times I ordered their gorgeous millefeuilles filled with three rich chocolate truffle mousses (black, milk & white) and their ambrosial mango or raspberry mini "Entremets". Heavenly and dreamlike, unless you remember that this might have been one of the reasons why you weren't exactly the thinnest girl at school (thankfully, I have lost those extra pounds now)...Well, although I was looking forward to devour my "Lemon & Passionfruit Entremet", I somehow was not too excited at the prospect of putting it together as even if I'm an audacious person in the kitchen, I'm not exactly the kind of girl who is passionate about all things technical. This challenge's difficulties were concentrated on our ability to draw patterns with the cocoa paste, have measuring abilities and cut our cake with extreme precision. That is exactly everything I hate to do. It makes me panic as I know that I'm not the best in that domain and have no patience for such exercizes!

Anyway, apart from slightly burning my joconde cake (the recipe had certain flaws - the baking temperature and the amount of time during which the cake has to stay in the oven are wrong) which resulted in a not very flexible cake wrappers that tended to break every time I tried to line the mold, the whole process wasn't really as complicated as I imagined. I started baking at 7pm and ended the challenge by 9h30pm. Not a bad timing considering the fact that it was the first time that I baked an "Entremet" and had to continually wash the dishes, pans and make space in my kitchen since it is as small as a rat's hole.

What intense physical activity and mental pressure! I can tell you that after those hours of strainous spinning around the place like a wheel, working like a madwoman on speed and praying the gods of success to not let me down I was wrecked and not capable of funtioning anymore.

Thankfully, the heavens above didn't let me down nor did my "Lemon & Passionfruit Entremet" which turned out to look surprisingly presentable even if it had a few tears here and there. Overall I was satisfied with my creation as not only was it an eyepleaser, but also a delight for the tastebuds.

This "Lemon & Passionfruit Entremet" has a blissfull texture and taste. The joconde cake is pleasantly spongy and nutty, the mousse filling is mindblowingly airy, light and intensely lemony, and the passionfruit jelly topping is constrastingly firm and exhaliratingly fragrant. A combination that cannot fail to bring a smile on the saddest of faces or to uplift the most depressed of souls!

Method:1. In a clean mixing bowl whip the egg whites and white granulated sugar to firm, glossy peeks. 2. Reserve in a separate clean bowl to use later.3. Sift almond flour, confectioner’s sugar, cake flour. (This can be done into your dirty egg white bowl.)4. On medium speed, add the eggs a little at a time. Mix well after each addition. Mix until smooth and light. (If using a stand mixer use blade attachment. If hand held a whisk attachment is fine, or by hand. )5. Fold in one third reserved whipped egg whites to almond mixture to lighten the batter. Fold in remaining whipped egg whites. Do not over mix.6. Fold in melted butter.7. Reserve batter to be used later.

Directions:1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. (Use stand mixer with blade, hand held mixer, or by hand.)2. Gradually add egg whites. Beat continuously.3. Fold in sifted flour.4. Tint batter with coloring to desired color, if not making cocoa variation.

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PREPARING THE JOCONDE - HOW TO MAKE PATTERNS

Method:1. Use a piping bag. Pipe letters, or polka dots, or a piped design. If you do not have a piping bag. Fill a ziplock bag and snip off corner for a homemade version of one piping bag.2. Slide the baking sheet with paste into the freezer. Freeze hard. Approx 15 minutes.3. Remove from freezer. Quickly pour the Joconde batter over the design. Spread evenly to completely cover the pattern of the Décor paste.4. Bake at 400ºF /200ºC until the joconde bounces back when slightly pressed, approx. 10-15 minutes. You can bake it as is on the upside down pan. Yes, it is a very quick bake, so watch carefully5. Cool. Do not leave too long, or you will have difficulty removing it from mat.6. Flip cooled cake on to a powdered sugared parchment paper. Remove silpat. Cake should be right side up, and pattern showing! (The powdered sugar helps the cake from sticking when cutting.)

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PREPARING THE MOLD FOR THE ENTREMET & LINING IT

Method:1. A biscuit cutter/ cookie cutter- using cling wrap pulled tightly as the base and the cling covering the outside of the mold, placed on a parchment lined very flat baking sheet.2. Line the inside with a curled piece of parchment paper overlapping.3. Decide how thick you want your “Joconde wrapper”. Traditionally, it is 1/2 the height of your mold. This is done so more layers of the plated dessert can be shown. However, you can make it the full height.4. Once your height is measured, then you can cut the cake into equal strips, of height and length. (Use a very sharp paring knife and ruler.)5. Make sure your strips are cut cleanly and ends are cut perfectly straight. Press the cake strips inside of the mold, decorative side facing out. Once wrapped inside the mold, overlap your ends slightly. You want your Joconde to fit very tightly pressed up to the sides of the mold. Then gently push and press the ends to meet together to make a seamless cake. The cake is very flexible so you can push it into place. You can use more than one piece to “wrap “your mold, if one cut piece is not long enough. (I I lined the base of my entremet with Joconde cake.)6. The mold is done, and ready to fill.

Note:If not ready to use. Lay cake kept whole or already cut into strips, on a flat surface, wrap in parchment and several layers of cling wrap and freeze.

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LEMON MOUSSE & PASSIONFRUIT JELLY

Method:I filled my entremet with 1 quantity "Lemon Mousse" and added a layer of "Passionfruit Jelly" that I made with 4 passionfruits (emptied), 2 Tbs lemon juice, 2 Tbs castor sugar (mix all three ingredients together) and 2 sheets jelly (softened in cold water, strained, melted over very low heat and added to the fruit mixture which you can leave pour over the mousse - refrigerate the entremet in order to solidify the jelly).

Rosa, if you make you feel better, I started the challenge last weekend, but afterwards decided to go out with my family instead. I worked all week so I never managed to do it. I am still planning on trying today and hopefully publish it tomorrow. You are not the only one!

The only time that I was able to finish on time is when I did the challenge right away.

You are late but you did it is and it looks beautiful and really tasty. I love passion fruit!

better late than never, rosa. as long as you get it done, then everything is fine. ;-) your dish looks so appetizing, as usual and i love the extra treats you provide us with your snow photos. love them.

Hey Rosa , u have done so beautifully friend !Stunning and those plates are loveellllyyy!The combi rocks and this is the most beautiful DB creation i have seen this time so far!And love the pink knife too :-))Happy Sunday babe!And im still loosing those pounds though they havent bulged muc after i begun bloggn!

Even if stress is part of your life, it's surely worth it if you can produce things like this! i've never made an entremet but yours has to be the loveliest I've ever seen. I love the pattern and texture of it, as well as the yummy flavours you have. Congrats!

A room with a view, and a masterpiece if I ever saw one. I'm sorry you put yourself through so much stress, Rosa. You've done a magnificent job.

I adore your story about the bakery. Yesterday was my late father's birthday and I remember on pay day how he would always bring us kids home a special treat. Usually, it was dunkin donuts but to me, they were as fine as any "pâtisserie-boulagerie."

Wow, Rosa, for all the trouble you say it gave you, it is simply beautiful! What a magnificent dessert! I am sorry I couldn't bake with you this time, but you did a fabulous job! The flavors are fabulous, too!

I personally think this is one of the better Daring bakers I've seen in a long time Rosa...you should be commended. The flavours (passsionfruit and lemon...hello!!!!0 and the design are all so stunning. Great pics too!

Wow! You really went all out on this one, Rosa. :-) I can only imagine all the time and effort you took to make this just right. You did a beautiful job. And I love those wintry photos you tucked in. :-)

Every time I look at the daring baker's challenges and all the recipe look so intriguing that I feel like joinin myself and then every once in a while a recipe like this comes and I feel that u need to be an artist to do something like what u did with some of these great flavors!Very well done!

We have definitely one thing in common, I also tend to do things at the very last minute and I came to the same conclusion! I think, however, stress makes me more efficient. :) And it seems it has the same effect on you as the cake looks absolutely fantastic! You did a great job here!

Even thought you stressed about this challenge in getting it technically perfect, it doesn't show at all. Your entremet looks fantastic! It looks as thought you've been making these your whole life :)Great baking!

omg the passion fruit seeds on the top looks so very delectable. This challenge so very complicated that I will not even contemplate giving it a try. Yours is a work of art, and i bet all the hard work did really pay off when u finally get to achieve something so beautiful.